


Fairy Godmother

by daddyoshie



Category: Hockey RPF, Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 2018-2019 NHL Season, Fluff, Forced Separation, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious, Separations, featuring my favorite trope: the intervening third friend, mojo as a devil, williams as a cane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 18:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19045864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daddyoshie/pseuds/daddyoshie
Summary: Justin lowered his voice. “Are you still in love with him?”Marcus said nothing.Justin felt a smirk tug at the edge of his lips. “You are still in love with him.”





	Fairy Godmother

**Author's Note:**

> My all-time favorite trope is the intervening third friend, this is one of my favorite pairings, and presto, this short fluffy fic was born. Please enjoy.
> 
> Thank you so much to AO3 user storiesinthedark for the beta, I really do appreciate it so much.

Justin relished the role of team dad. Usually on road trips, the young guys loved to tag along and follow him around road cities. But not this particular trip. On this trip, he was going to send the kids off together to fend for themselves. Justin had plans of his own.

They touched down in Newark, and immediately he was surrounded by a gaggle of twenty-year-olds, all vying at him with questions.

“You going anywhere tonight, Cap?”

“You know any good places to eat?”

“Can we come with you?”

Justin shook his head. “Not tonight, boys, I’ve got my own plans.” They looked at him, eyes wide with confusion. “That means you guys are on your own for the evening.”

They began chattering excitedly (and nervously), and Justin shooed them off. Once he had a moment to himself, he whipped out his phone and made a call.

After a few rings, a familiar steady voice picked up on the other end. “Hello?”

“Jojo! How you doing, man?”

“I’m doing pretty well, Stick. How about you?”

“Oh, not so bad,” Justin replied. “Listen, we just landed in Newark. You up to anything tonight? I’d love to get dinner.”

“I’ve always got time for you,” Marcus said. “I’ve got just the place in mind, I’ll text you the address.”

“Sounds great,” Justin said. “It’ll be just like old times.”

“Well, almost.”

Justin felt the pang of hurt in Marcus’s voice, but he decided to ignore it. “Well, it’ll be great to see you again. Catch you in a little bit, yeah?”

“Yeah, see you there.”

* * *

Mojo always did have great taste. The restaurant he’d picked was nice but not too nice, and Justin could tell just by the smell in the air that they had a good menu. He found Marcus at a table in the back, and he embraced his former teammate in a hug.

“So good to see you, buddy,” Justin greeted.

“You too, man.” The two of them got settled at their table, and they quickly ordered drinks and some appetizers.

“How are you, man? I know you’ve had a bunch of injuries lately — are you doing okay?” Justin asked.

“I’m doing perfectly fine, tip-top,” Marcus replied. “I wish we were, you know,  _ doing _ better, but it is how it is.”

“I certainly feel that,” Justin said. “How’s Newark?” he asked.

“You know. Cold, smelly, full of people who wished they lived in New York.”

“Eh, it’s  _ basically  _ New York.”

Marcus looked him dead in the eye. “I dare you to try telling that to one of the locals here. I’m not fishing your body out of the river.”

Justin tipped his head in acknowledgement. “You’re right, Newark would be an unfortunate place to die.”

“All too true,” Marcus agreed. “And how’s Raleigh?” he asked as the waiter arrived with their drinks and starters.

“Really chill. We’ve got a nice big house with a big yard. And I’ve never seen a place with more college kids. College kids are the only people who live there. Sometimes I feel so old.”

“That’s what happens when you’re the team dad.”

“Is it my fault that the entire team is ten years younger and they all love me?” Justin asked. “Haven’t you adopted one of your young teammates?”

Marcus shrugged. “Well, yeah. Swedes have to stick together. But Jesper is my only one. The rest of the young guys all flock to Hallsy.” He took a sip of his drink. “But you, you've got half a dozen ducklings.”

Justin shrugged. “It’s kind of nice being the dad figure. We didn’t have nearly this many kids in D.C.”

“True.” Marcus looked down. “I miss Burky though.”

“You certainly can’t replace Burky.” Justin got a little serious. “That was a good run we had, you know? I love those guys.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

Marcus’s hand instinctively went to his neck, where it lightly fingered a chain. Justin didn’t think anything of it. Nothing weird about that; a lot of guys wore chains, and he vaguely remembered Marcus having one. But then the brush of his hand opened the neck of his shirt just a little bit more, and Justin caught a glimpse of something that set off alarm bells in his head. He recalled a party a number of years ago, and an exchange of gifts that clearly meant more than linemate chemistry. He’d assumed that that infatuation had died out over distance and time, but the little gold 92 resting over Marcus’s heart told no lies.

He pointed at the necklace and asked very loudly, “What is that??”

Marcus looked down, turning beet red. He covered it with his hand. “Nothing.”

“Nothing my ass.” Justin swatted Marcus’s hand away and held the chain between his two fingers. “Is this what I think it is?”

Marcus flicked Justin’s hand until he let go, and then quickly tucked the necklace under his shirt, like he was trying to snuff out its existence. “It is a number. That I happen to enjoy.”

“Don’t try to play coy with me, Marcus. I know exactly what that is.”

Marcus didn’t respond, instead keeping an unbreaking eye contact with Justin.

Justin lowered his voice just a touch. “Are you still in love with him?”

Marcus said nothing.

Justin felt a smirk tug at the edge of his lips. “You are still in love with him.”

“...Maybe.”

Justin had been their linemate for two years. He knew better than most how crazy they had been for each other. Two hundred games of third-wheeling made you an expert on the subject. He never knew what had happened behind the scenes between them, but he knew what he saw with his own two eyes, and they had it in deep for one another at that time. And now that they were bringing it up again, Justin saw that Marcus had the exact same look in his eye that he had back then.

“After all this time, huh?” he mused.

Marcus spoke in a barely audible whisper. “You can’t just find another person like that.”

That was certainly the truth. The man had a personality like no other. In another world, Justin might have fallen in love with him himself. He watched Marcus carefully, but Marcus avoided eye contact, something sad and unsaid hidden underneath.

“Wait, did you not...do anything about it before you left Washington?”

Marcus bristled, the words seemingly touching a nerve. “I was  _ going _ to do something about it. I thought I’d have another two years. But then…”

Justin didn’t need to hear the word  _ traded _ to understand. He knew how much the entire ordeal had stung Marcus. Not getting that closure would have made all that even worse.

“I’m just surprised,” Justin said. “Nothing happened at all between you two?”

Marcus shook his head. “Not officially. I was way too nervous to ever chance anything. And scared.”

Justin frowned. “Scared? Of what?”

“That he wouldn’t...feel the same way.”

Justin’s eyes boggled. “That he wouldn’t feel the same way?? Dude, he was  _ crazy _ about you. Utterly nuts.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Really? I don’t know that?  _ Me _ , who had to deal with third wheeling you lovesick weirdos every damn day? Trust me, I know.”

Marcus breathed deeply. “Still, you can’t be  _ sure _ . And it doesn’t matter anyway, I know he doesn’t feel that way anymore.”

“You don’t know that,” Justin said, throwing Marcus’s own words back at him.

“Yes I do.”

“Then tell me. How do you know that?”

“It’s  _ Kuzy _ , who has never held back from sharing an emotion in his life. If he did, or still does, he would have said something.”

“But  _ you _ didn’t say anything either. How do you know he’s not going through the exact same thing you are?”

Marcus pursed his lips. He didn’t have an answer for that. “I still don’t believe that,” he said quietly.

“Believe it, Jojo. I know what I’ve seen with my own two eyes. Between what I know from then, and seeing you and your feelings now, there is no way his feelings have changed.”

“But you can’t know that for sure,” Marcus protested. “You can’t prove it.”

Suddenly, a devious idea formed in Justin’s mind. “Oh, I can prove it.”

Justin pulled out his phone and started scrolling, trying to find the right number. Marcus glared at him, eyebrows furrowed.

“What are you doing?”

“Just shut up and listen.” Justin found what he was looking for and clicked call. He turned on speakerphone and placed the phone on the table in front of them. “Don’t say a word.”

For a few tense moments, the phone rang. The tone reverberated throughout the space, and for a second Justin was afraid he wouldn’t pick up. But then he did.

“Hello?”

Marcus’s eyes flew open in utter panic as Kuzy’s voice came out of the speaker. Justin raised a finger to his lips, advising him to say nothing.

“Hey, Kuz, it’s great to hear from you! How you doing, man?”

“Doing amazing, Stick. Are your brittle old man bones broken yet?”

Marcus had to stifle his giggling. Justin rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, very funny. I see you haven’t changed one bit.”

“Staying sharp. Instead of you, we have lots of rookies to practice on. V is very fun to pick on.” He chuckled. “It’s been long time since we talk, Stick. Miss hearing you. You call me for a reason?”

“You know, I did, actually. I’ve got a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Back when we played together, were you in love with Marcus?”

A pause. Kuzy laughed nervously. “Well that question’s a little out of the blue, no?”

“Hey man, I was curious. I was missing you guys recently, and I wanted to see if I remembered correctly.” He paused. “So, were you?”

Another anxious beat, and Justin could see Marcus sweating across the table. Then Kuzy piped right back up again. “Of course I was. How can I not fall in love with that mustache? He so funny too. And kind. And adorable. Hilarious to watch him get all cute and red.”

Justin glanced over at Marcus; his face was unchanged, but his knuckles were clenched white. Off to a great start.

“That’s kind of what I suspected,” Justin said. “And you never...did anything about it?”

Kuzy sighed. “No. I wanted to, though. Wanted to kiss him right in his scrunched-up face. But I didn’t. Nervous.”

“Nervous? I’ve never known you to be nervous about anything in your entire life.”

“Well, I was. He’s my favorite person. Of course I was.”

Justin felt the table shift as Marcus grabbed the edge of it. Marcus was clearly going through some kind of emotional roller coaster, and Justin was about to add another loop to it.

“Are you still in love with him?”

Kuzy remained silent for a very long time; so long that Justin was afraid that he had hung up. He was also afraid that Marcus, who was holding his breath, was going to turn blue and pass out.

But then he answered. “Do you really think I’d  _ ever _ fall out of love with him? Yes, of course I still am. Why are you asking me —”

At that moment, Marcus gasped, loud and involuntary, like the breath and emotions just couldn’t be contained. Justin snapped his head up to look at him in disbelief. Marcus clamped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. Kuzy stopped immediately.

“Stick,” he said quietly. “Is someone else there?”

“Yeah,” Justin admitted. “You may or may not be on speakerphone.”

A tense pause. “Who is it?”

Justin looked at Marcus, tense and white and full of panic. Justin gestured in his direction, giving him the clearance to go. Marcus lowered his hand from his mouth, straightened his spine, cleared his throat, and spoke.

“Hi, Kuz.”

Kuzy’s voice came out soft, in a much different tone than the one he spoke with to Justin. “Hi, Jojo,” he greeted. “So...you heard all that, huh?”

“I did.”

Kuzy chuckled. “A little embarrassing for me.”

“No, you don’t need to be...I mean I…” Marcus ran his hands through his hair and exhaled. “Kuz, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

Marcus took a deep breath. “For not saying anything about...how I felt. While I was still there. I really...thought I’d have more time.”

“ _ You’re  _ sorry?  _ I’m  _ sorry. I’m the fool here. And it wasn’t fair, what happened to you. Fucking sucked.”

A smile tugged at Marcus’s lips. “I just wanted to say that I...I…”

“What is it, Jojo?”

“I…”

“He still loves you too, you moron!” Justin screamed into the speakerphone. Marcus looked at him with absolute horror. Justin just shrugged.

“Jojo...is that true?”

Marcus took another deep breath. “Yeah, it’s true. I, uh...I’m still wearing the necklace.”

“Really? So am I.”

Marcus’s cheeks flushed pink, but this time it was accompanied by a smile. “I just needed you to know...I have these feelings too. And  _ you  _ haven’t had Stick over here giving you stupid looks about it.”

Justin threw up his hands. “Hey man, I’m just saying what you two clearly can’t.”

Kuzy laughed. “Well, we did third wheel him a  _ lot _ .” He paused briefly. “So...what do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Marcus said softly.

“I think you two need to get together and make out a little bit,” Justin said loudly. Kuzy cackled while Marcus implored him to shut the fuck up. “Hey, I only speak the truth.”

“I  _ do _ want to do that,” Kuzy admitted.

Marcus’s face turned red. “I think we need to find a time to get together and sort this out,” Marcus said. “And maybe do that, just a little.”

“I think a  _ lot _ ,” Kuzy said. “But talk...would also be good.”

“And maybe not right now. I already feel weird talking about this with Stick here.”

“What are you talking about? I am your goddam fairy godmother.”

“Shut up, Stick.”

“Thank you, Stick!”

All Marcus could do was shake his head. “So, I’ll text you later, okay? Figure this out? I desperately want to see you.”

“Me too,” Kuzy said. “I miss your mustache.”

“That’s just ‘cause you can’t grow a good one.” A stupid little smile that Justin hadn’t seen in a very long time found its way onto Marcus’s face. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

“Now tell each other you love each other,” Justin butted in.

Marcus punched Justin in the arm, but he still complied. “I love you, Kuz.”

“I love you too, Jojo.”

Justin could tell there was more they wanted to say, but he’d let that wait for a conversation between themselves when he wasn’t here. Marcus hung up the phone and slid it back to Justin. “You’re the worst, you know that?”

Justin faked offense. “What? How could you possibly say such a thing. I just matched you up with your true love.”

Marcus couldn’t help but smile, his eyes sparkling. “I know. But I’m still mortified.”

“I think you’re just imagining all the ways you’re gonna get freaky the next time you see him and you’re just embarrassed on behalf of your modesty.”

Marcus flushed deeper. “Shut up.”

“As your matchmaker, I think I’ve earned the right to be best man at your wedding.”

“Sorry, I promised that to Andre years ago.”

“Come on, he’s absolutely the ringbearer.”

“Nope.”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to officiate.”

“Dear lord.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at @daddyoshie


End file.
